Nutritional status among primary school children in rural Sri Lanka; a public health challenge for a country with high child health standards

BMC Public Health

Research Article

G. Wijewardana¹  P. C. Rajasinghe²  H. Maheshi²  G. S. Amarasinghe²  M. Rathnayaka²  S. B. Agampodi²  V. S. Kithmini²  N. Premarathna²  M. Dayarathna²  T. C. Agampodi²  L. Premachandra²  N. P. G. C. R. Naotunna² 

[1] Faculty of Engineering, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia;Maternal and Child Health Research Unit, Department of Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, Saliyapura, Sri Lanka;

关键词: Nutritional Status;    Primary school children;    Sri Lanka;    BMI;    Height for age;    Weight for age;    Thinness;    Obesity;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12889-016-4001-1

 received in 2015-12-01, accepted in 2016-12-23,  发布年份 2017

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundNutritional status of pre adolescent children is not widely studied in Sri Lanka. The purpose of this study was to determine the nutritional status among pre-adolescent school children in a rural province of Sri Lanka.MethodsA school based cross sectional study was carried out in North Central Province in 100 rural schools, selected using multi stage cluster sampling with probability proportionate to size. Children in grade one to five were enrolled with a maximum cluster size of fifty. Anthropometric measurements were done by trained data collectors and venesection was done at site by trained nurses. WHO AnthoPlus was used to calculate the BMI, height for age and weight for age Z scores. Survey design adjusted prevalence estimates with linearized standard errors were generated using svy function of STATA. Mean haemoglobin concentration (Hb) was calculated using methaeamoglobin method. Screening for iron deficiency and thalassemia trait was done using peripheral blood films.ResultsHeight and weight measurements were done for 4469 of children and the Hb data was available for 4398 children. Based on the survey design adjusted estimates, prevalence of severe thinness, thinness, overweight and obesity in this population was 8.60% (SE 0.94), 2.91%(SE 0.74), 2.95%(0.26) and 2.43%(SE 0.92) respectively. Similarly, survey design adjusted prevalence of underweight and stunting were, 25.93% (95% CI 24.07–27.89%) and 43.92%(95% CI 40.55–47.56%). Adjusted mean estimates for hemoglobin was 12.20 (95% CI 12.16–12.24) g/dL. Prevalence of anemia was 17.3% (n = 749). Prevalence of mild and moderate anemia was 9.4 and 7.6% respectively.ConclusionThis study confirms that malnutrition is still a major problem in North Central Province, Sri Lanka.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s). 2017